Chinese Drivers Are Using Tiny Plastic Heads to Fool Tesla’s Autopilot Safeguards

Article excerpt

Chinese drivers are circumventing Tesla's autopilot safety features with a growing cottage industry of workarounds: tiny plastic celebrity heads, blinking screens, and other DIY gadgets designed to trick the car's driver-monitoring system into thinking someone is paying attention. Tesla's safeguards require drivers to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel, but these novelty items fool the camera by simulating an engaged driver. The tactic highlights a gap between the automaker's safety technology and creative workarounds emerging in markets where the controls are most aggressively enforced.